Former Toon star Nile Ranger has agreed to pay a £5,000 fine instead of doing community service - because he is too busy finding a new club.

As previously reported by the Chronicle, the 22-year-old was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service and nine months supervision by Newcastle magistrates after admitting common assault in April.

The former Newcastle striker - who was released by the club in March and is now earning just £30-a-day - said he keeps missing probation meetings because he is touring the country meeting football chiefs and agents.

Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, in London, have agreed to change it to a £5,000 fine because Ranger, of Bailey Close, Bounds Green, north London, is desperately scouring the country for a club that will take him.

The player skipped more than half of the court-ordered appointments and completed just 14 hours community service since he was sentenced in April, the court heard.

He was hauled back into the dock last week after missing two appointments in July without giving any reason at all for his absence.

Mahmudul Amin, prosecuting, said the heavily tattooed striker, who recently had his own surname inscribed on his forehead, breached the court order when he thought a new club had come in to sign him.

Alistair McKenzie, for Ranger, suggested the striker would pay a hefty fine, but is currently living off just £30-a-day from Newcastle under the terms of his release.

“His disposable income is £210 a week and he doesn’t have access to any other savings for the purpose of these proceedings,” he said.

Ranger was on £7,000-a-week at Newcastle, but much of it was paid into a savings account that Ranger is not allowed to access until he is 25 because he had a long-standing gambling addiction.

The original sentence was given after he attacked his then-girlfriend Shakira Bicar in Newcastle.